Will Ferrell Refuses "Elf 2" and "Old School 2"

There’s been a few rumors flying around lately that Will Ferrell might be doing another "Elf" and will almost definitely being doing another "Old School." Well, the actor roundly denied both rumors, and did so in typically amusing fashion.

From The Guardian: "By 2005, after only 10 years in the business, Forbes magazine had Ferrell down as America’s best-paid actor, with $40m in the bank that year. And he turned down $29m to make Elf 2, a sequel to his brilliant 2003 Christmas hit about a human raised by elves, making his way in Manhattan. Wow, indeed.

Will isn’t at all embarrassed talking about such large sums of money. ‘That’s what was on offer for it,’ he says. ‘But I killed the idea of a sequel. I never liked it – $29m does seem a lot of money for a guy to wear tights, but it’s what the marketplace will bear. It’s insane, but it’s not my call. The studios perpetuate it and they make it hard to say no.’

…

‘It wasn’t difficult at all,’ he says. ‘I remember asking myself: could I withstand the criticism when it’s bad and they say, "He did the sequel for the money"? I decided I wouldn’t be able to. I didn’t want to wander into an area that could erase all the good work I’ve done – but you watch, I’ll do some sequel in the future that’s crap.’

Will is remarkably clear about the real value of his film work. I mention a rumour about a sequel to Old School, the boorish 2003 Frat comedy he made with Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson and in which he famously runs around town in his Y-fronts. I add that I really hope there isn’t more of this to come. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do another Old School,’ he says quickly. ‘They put these rumours out there, these studio people, but I would never be behind that one.’"

Click here to read the rest of the article, which is really quite good.